Pogo Comes To Mind

Bet you didn’t see this coming: The National Conference of State Legislators says New Jersey’s new budget with $1.9 billion worth of tax hikes — 5 percent increase — outpaces the other 49 states. Our cigarette tax leads the nation. We’re tied with three other states for the highest sales tax. We’ve had the highest property taxes for years. But not to worry, those legislative committees are working hard to fix it for us. And if they don’t, history shows they will be re-elected anyway. As the wonderful Walt Kelley wrote in his comic strip Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

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About Bob Ingle

Bob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption" and "Chris Christie: The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power". He has won numerous journalism awards and is often a news analyst on radio and television. Twitter @ bobingle99.

11 Responses to Pogo Comes To Mind

I bleieve the worst is yet to come. We are so far in the hole. Aside from the underfunded pension mess, what about repayment of all the loans with the State’s borrowing habits …

In 2004, the realty transfer fee (politely called a fee, but a tax is what it really is) was increased twice. That wasn’t enough so our legislators crafted a new tax, called a “mansion tax”. Clever of guys/gals in Trenton … who will feel sorry for a tax imposed on a mansion. That new “fee” requires buyers of a residential property worth $1,000,000 to pay 1% tax on the sales price. That wasn’t enough either, so on July 8, 2008, that “mansion tax” is now extended to commercial properties as well. Where is all the money from these new/increased taxes? Did I mention the recording fees more than doubled also. You now need to take out a mortgage just to record a mortgage!

And there are more taxes on the horizon for companies doing business in New Jersey. I predict the new business taxes being crafted will drive many companies out of New Jersey. Well, that’s what they get for being a business … after all, aren’t business owners rich?

True enough—-and that does not even include the massive UMDNJ Medicare/Aid fraud which has to be repaid to the federal govt, and other government frauds yet to be revealed.

Who will pay for it all?

Not the politicans. They will retire in leisure to waterfront mansions with several state pensions, benefits for life, offshore bank accounts, and numerous revenue-bearing investments made through using government actions for their personal benefit.

The grifting thieves elected to office could car less about soaking taxpayers—–just as long as the grifters cash-in.

Government fraud is so complete, and so egregious, that Menendez used the federal government to benefit himself withour fear of penalty. Read on:

Excerpted from the Asbury Park Press 08/26/06 BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sen. Robert Menendez violated congressional ethics rules by collecting more than $300,000 in rent from a nonprofit agency for which he helped obtain federal funds.

Can you say pay-to-play?

The AP reported Menendez no longer owns the three-story house in Union City that he rented to the North Hudson Community Action Corp. beginning in 1994 until he sold it in 2003, Menendez campaign spokesman Matthew Miller told AP.

The organization offers social services and health care to poor residents—the clear sign of a political scam—when the pols claim they are “helping the poor,” they are cashing in bigtime.

Then-Cong Menendez collected $3,100 a month in rent, which was apparently market value. Menendez increased the rent twice over the nine-year period, to $3,200 and $3,400.

“This transaction was transparent, it was approved by the House Ethics Committee,” he said. However, Menendez had no written proof of his cockamamie assertions.

An AP reporter’s telephone call to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to verify the clearance was not immediately returned.

Then-Cong Menendez routinely sent out Congressional press releases announcing new federal grants for the North Hudson Community Action Corporation. Federal appropriations that were facilitated by Mr Menendez included Head Start grants for $181,080 in September 2000 and $573,849 in May 2001; a $1 million grant to help fund North Hudson Community Action Corporation in July 2000 and $1.17 million grant to help expansion in July 2002. “He was very supportive of them receiving those funds be cause they do such valuable work in the community,” said a spokesman for the Menendez Senate campaign.

The Menendez Senate campaign said his office did not have any official records on file of his legislative activity to obtain government grants, but that they could not rule out that Mr Menendez frequently wrote letters to federal agencies seeking funding on behalf of The North Hudson Community Action Corporation.

Menendez says there was nothing inappropriate about his financial ties to an organization to which he steered taxpayer money.

Duh. Only in your greedy mind, Senator.

Menendez also received campaign contributions from the people assocated with this scam.

The North Hudson Community Action Corporation employees have been very generous to candidate Menendez, donating $33,450 to his various campaign accounts over the past two decades. Michael Leggiero, the former president and CEO of the North Hudson Community Action agency (which received 2/3 of its funding from government grants) who ran it for 35 years, was a long-time political ally of Mr Menendez. Mr Leggiero, a former Union City, New Jersey commissioner, contributed $9,250 to Menendez’s campaigns when he first ran for Congress in 1992. Leggiero died last year and Menendez spoke at his funeral.

NOW GET THIS: At one point, then-Sen Jon Corzine received the organizaiton’s Vision Award for co-sponsoring Community Service Block Grant authorizations by the US Congress that financed The North Hudson Community Action Corporation.

You can BANK on only one thing between 5 and 7 years your Property TAX will double I can GUARENTEE that. It is not even a question…believe me it is a given all politicians but won’t comment on it ….so do the math if you can’t afford it you better make plans to move

its funny how we (US) spends so much money and time trying to spread democracy through out the world…and this is going to be the result,,,,, if my taxes double,,,, i’m not paying, let them come get me,,,,

Sleep well, tonight, fellow bloggers. A couple of government fraudsters have been nailed. The scam takes pay-to-play to new dimensions—-betcha the $10,000.00 bribe to a crooked councilman went straignt into the AC slots.

ATLANTIC CITY PRESS STORY

At least two people with ties to Atlantic City officials will be appearing in Camden federal court tomorrow.

Atlantic City contractor Terry K. Jacobs and former Camden City Councilman Ali Sloan-El both confirmed they would appear in federal court at 11 a.m.

Jacobs, a close friend of City Council President Craig Callaway, said “I have no idea what is going to happen.” in court.

Jacobs is the owner of Atlantic City’s Jacobs Contracting Services, Inc. His South Virginia Avenue firm is qualified to handle all manner of construction and renovation work including school construction, painting and masonry.

When Sloan-El was asked why he would be in court, he said, “When you plead guilty, you have to go into court.”

He referred further questions to attorney Rocco Cipparone, who could not immediately be reached.

Sloan-El resigned his council seat in late June, telling the Camden Courier Post in July that he took $10,000 from an undercover federal investigator at the Trump Taj Mahal in April 2005 to pay campaign workers.

He told that paper that an unspecified Atlantic City contractor helped set him up. When asked in July if Jacobs was the contractor, he said, “That was not the name they gave me.” He confirmed that Tuesday.

Lessee. There’s 21 counties and 567 munis, plus all the crooks crowding the Statehouse, and the campaign contributors, cronies and other co-conspirators on the government payroll sucking up bribes and payoffs.

And not to forget the crooked appointees of the elected thieves with no-show jobs taking envelopes of cash, and non-traceable casino chips around to the various pols.

Now if BPU’s got a $100 million stashed away in secret bank accounts that the lowlifes stole from ratepayers utility bills—–you can imagine the secret accounts and investment vehicles other government agencies have.

Why, UMDNJ must have its own bank to store the $300-500 million it stole from the feds, plus all the other graft it took in from phony vendors, phantom employees on the payroll, wire-transfers—and the like.

On second thought, forget the good night’s sleep, pass the valium and vodka.

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James spent 20 years as the city’s chief executive without having to be accountable to many people. He and his administration were investigated by government agencies on numerous occasions, but amazingly he was never indicted. Every time James was challenged on how a public servant with a limited income could own a huge yacht, millions in real estate and appear to live high on the hog, his typical response would be to rhetorically ask, “Why is it that a black man in America can’t have money?”

James has been playing the race card forever. Every time he’s been challenged by the media regarding his spending practices, the way he ran his administration, the strong-arm tactics that his police force used against his political nemesis Cory Booker in the 2002 mayoral campaign, James would never respond directly. He was the master of obfuscation. But I have always given James credit for being Newark’s best cheerleader. He was an advocate who helped bring in private investments and keep my home town of Newark afloat, even if the economic activities were disproportionately focused in the downtown area.

But now everything has changed. James’ out-of-control spending of public money appears to have caught up with him. In a series of front page stories in The Star-Ledger, James is being challenged on his use of two credit cards that he had full access to and appeared to spend tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars on trips to exotic locations, lodging in four-star hotels and eating in only the best restaurants.

It was reported that James took a trip to Rio de Janeiro during his last week in office using both credit cards, one assigned to the city, and the other to the police department. James spent nearly $7,000 for him and his private security detail to take a five-day trip. James argues that he was on city business, that he was following up on a 2004 trip he took to Rio in which he lectured on “affirmative action, sanitation, housing and poor people.”

He appears to have convinced himself that he was owed the right to use bank credit cards to live like a king, even though the state government had banned such a practice for municipal officials for obvious reasons.

But this is no Newark issue. This is an issue for the entire state of New Jersey to deal with. It is an issue for the Democrats in the state Legislature to ban the current practice of allowing candidates who amass huge financial war chests to use leftover money to create bogus civic non-profit organizations that are nothing more than slush funds to keep living the good life. It appears that’s exactly what James was prepared to do with the campaign money he had and never used when he opted not to run for mayor against Cory Booker a few months ago.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine and the Democratic legislative leadership must tell the former mayor and current state senator, “No, Sharpe, it’s over.” James is hopeless. He’ll never understand. The bigger question is whether his Democratic colleagues in the Statehouse are willing to do something about it.

Oh yeah, the last time James came under heavy pressure from the feds? That investigation seemed to go up in smoke and disappear. Democrat Bill Clinton was president at the time. James was Clinton’s friend and a major political supporter. That’s some coincidence. We’ll see what happens now.

Steve Adubato is a lecturer, television commentator and former state legislator.

About this Blog

Bob Ingle, Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers, on politics in "The Soprano State".

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About the Author

Bob IngleBob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey Newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption." Hear him Fridays at 5 p.m. on www.tommygshow.com radio. twitter.com/bobingle99 E-mail Bob

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"Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power," written by Bob Ingle and Michael Symons, offers the first inside portrait of New Jersey’s governor, who in two years as governor emerged as a national Republican Party figure famous for his blunt public statements. The book details Christie’s combative public persona and deep family roots, tracing his improbable political rise from a bruising stint in county government to his anti-corruption crusade as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power goes behind the scenes to reveal his family life, his public life, and what the future might hold..

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"The Soprano State," written by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, details the you-couldn't-make-this-up true story of the corruption that has pervaded New Jersey politics, government, and business for the past thirty years. From Jimmy Hoffa purportedly being buried somewhere beneath the end zone in Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, through allegations of a thoroughly corrupt medical and dental university, through Mafia influence at all levels, to a governor who suddenly declares himself a “gay American” and resigns, the Garden State might indeed be better named after the HBO mobsters.

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